Bog Springs restoration project in Ruidoso nears completion

RUIDOSO >> After three years of getting approvals, permits and studies, the Bog Springs restoration project is finally underway and nearing completion.

The project engineered to restore wetlands along Warrior Drive and further enhance the ecology in the area of Ruidoso High School is a collaborative effort that includes city, village, students, teachers and high school departments.

"The 'get 'er done' attitude on ground level has been outstanding," said Van Clothier, owner of Stream Dynamics, a stream restoration, water harvesting and erosion control company. "I'm really impressed at the cooperation."

The project engineered to restore wetlands along Warrior Drive near Ruidoso High School is a collaborative effort that includes city, village, students, teachers and high school departments. (null)

"The city's doing the heavy lifting and Stream dynamics is doing the detail work," said Clothier, who is overseeing the project on Ruidoso High School land.

The project is part of a settlement agreement coming out of a lawsuit that an environmental group filed against the village of Ruidoso.

"After three years, it's exciting to see it actually happening," said Nora Midkiff of the Restoration Committee.

Clothier said Midkiff was instrumental in bringing the project together and cutting through all the red tape,

"Without Nora's help we'd never have gotten this done," Clothier said. "Every time there was a problem she got it fixed."

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Clothier explained that about 30 percent of the project is finished. Last week Stream Dynamics completed the creation of two ponds that ultimately will feed the wetlands restoration areas and create natural underground water storage reservoirs that will feed Bog Springs Creek slowly.

Years ago, before roads were constructed and the school was erected, the entire area was a natural wetland, Clothier said. But then buildings were erected, the bar ditch was created to divert water away from the area and black top replaced dirt and created unnatural highways that redirected the water that traditionally fed the wetlands.

"The cumulative effect of all of our drainage projects has resulted in sending the water down off the mountain before we have a chance to use it and pass it on," Clothier said. "The way the roads and drainage systems have been done in the past is a huge contributor to the current water crisis,"

A backhoe works on the Bog Springs project. (null)

Storm water run-off projects began late last year and Ruidoso High School students were instrumental in getting several storm water diversion areas channeled and created.

"We can do restoration on the stream but if we don't address the storm water runoff from the high school roofs and parking lots, we're overlooking a big part of improving water quality here in the Rio Ruidoso watershed," said Jen Zawacki, an ecologist educator with Stream Dynamics.

Students also assisted in the planning of the restoration project under the leadership of Zawacki.

"The entire freshmen class and teachers were really excited to get involved in storm water infiltration and really meeting some common core curriculum objectives through real-life rainwater harvesting techniques and assessments," she said.

Clothier said everyone is working together to try and complete the initial restoration by July 12.

"But this is just the beginning of what could be a much larger project," Clothier said. Recently the group got approval from the Corps of Engineers to work with high school students and make rock dams all the way down Gavillon Canyon. Additionally, students and teachers were so interested and involved in the project that Ruidoso High School has added an ecology class to the 2013/2014 curriculum. "Forty students have already signed up," Clothier said.

Students are finding all kinds of ways to integrate the project into their various classes, Midkiff said. "Math, biology and even journalism classes are looking at getting involved. And the students will continue to maintain the project and do small improvements."

Species natural to the wetlands habitat that were displaced by the loss of the wetlands due to a lack of understanding of environment principals will gradually return as their near-natural habitat is restored, said Clothier. "Reptiles, amphibians, fish, macro invertebrate (fish food), water fowl. They'll have good clean water to live in."

Clothier explained that when water runs off roofs and gutters during a heavy rain it surges down the paved areas and altered landscapes, rushing into and overflowing the man made drainage systems designed to capture and move the water. "The problem is it just rushes down the black top into the bar ditch. There's more than the ditch can handle all at once so it overflows causing the banks of the ditch to erode. Then off it goes racing down the mountain to Roswell before we ever get a chance to use it."

By creating ponds and restoring the wetlands which act as natural underground water reservoirs for times of drought, the project components control the rate at which the water reaches the creek by redirecting it off roadways and into retention areas where much of it has time to permeate the ground moving it in a slow, controlled manner through the natural underground filtration system.

"The ponds and retention areas control the flow of the water, giving it time to absorb into the ground which then acts as a natural filter that cleans and regulates the flow of the water to the stream. Everything touching those areas is watered, free. When rainfall is low, water is still slowing working its way through the underground filtration system to the stream. Every aspect of the project has cascading multi-benefits," Clothier said.

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